“I was really happy with my fitness levels and satisfied with my preparations for Comrades,” Budd, who resides in the United States, said. “I spent many solitary hours on the road as part of my preparations and have traveled halfway around the world to be here, so it is obviously very frustrating. I’ll just have to hold out for next time.”

Comrades is the largest and most prestigious ultramarathon in the world. The race has a cap of 18,000 entrants.

Budd, 47, is perhaps best known for her collision with Mary Decker Slaney at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. She represented Great Britain in those Olympics at a time when South Africa was barred from international sporting events because of its apartheid policy.

As a teenager in South Africa, Budd ran 15:01.83 to break the 5000m world record, but the time was never ratified because of the international stance against South Africa. In 1985, representing Great Britain, she officially claimed the world record, running 14:48.07. In recent years, she has become a road racer, and has run the Twin Cities and New York City marathons, among others.